Health economies across the country face acute sector deficits

Hospital trust financial problems have now spread across England, with the acute sector in the majority of health economies expecting an overall deficit in 2014-15.

Only five of NHS England’s 25 area teams are overseeing health economies where acute providers are projecting a cumulative surplus. They are: Bath, Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire; Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country; Lancashire; North Yorkshire and Humber; and Wessex.

In the remaining 20 team areas, the acute sector is projecting a cumulative deficit. In some areas this is driven by a minority of providers that expect to be deeply in the red.

The acute sector in London is projecting a net deficit of more than £100m, but this is driven by deficits expected by just six of the capital’s 20 acute providers.

Likewise, the £15m overall deficit projected for the Greater Manchester acute sector is driven by deficits expected at just three of the conurbation’s eight acute providers.

But in other health economies the majority of acute trusts expect to finish the year in the red. At least six of East Anglia’s eight trusts are forecasting deficits, as are four out of five providers in Essex.

The two acute providers in the Leicestershire and Lincolnshire area - University Hospitals of Leicester Trust and United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust - are both expecting deficits.

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